Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Parallel translations
- WEB Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
- KJV Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
- BSB Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- NKJV Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
- NLT Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Because God loved us so sacrificially, we are obligated to love one another in the same way. God's love received becomes love shared.
Overview
John draws a practical conclusion from the cross: the immense love shown in Christ creates a duty and capacity to love fellow believers. The standard is not mere sentiment but the self-giving love displayed at Calvary. Calling his readers 'beloved,' John reminds them that they are themselves objects of this love and so are to extend it onward.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- John 15:12–13“This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
- Col 3:13bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
- John 13:34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
- 1 Jn 3:23This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- Luke 10:37He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
- 1 Jn 3:16–17By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
- 2 Cor 8:8–9I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love.
- Eph 4:31Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander, be put away from you, with all malice.
- Matt 18:32–33Then his lord called him in, and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'
How 1 John 4:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.